In every small Cornish village in olden times (and the race is not yet extinct) lived a charmer or “white witch.” Their powers were not quite as great as those of a pellar, but they were thoroughly believed in, and consulted on every occasion for every complaint. They were not only able to cure diseases, but they could, when offended, “overlook” and ill-wish the offender, bringing ill-luck on him, and also on his family and farm-stock. The seventh son of the seventh son, or seventh daughter of the seventh daughter, were born with this gift of charming, and made the most noted pellars; but anyone might become a witch who touched a Logan rock nine times at midnight. These Logan rocks are mentioned elsewhere as being in Cornwall their favourite resorts, and to them they went, it is said, riding on ragwort stems, instead of the traditional broomsticks.
Or, he might, says another authority, use the following charm: “Go to the chancel of a church to sacrament, hide away the bread from the hands of the priest, at midnight carry it around the church from south to north, crossing east three times. The third time a big toad, open-mouthed, will be met, put the bread in it; as soon as swallowed he will breathe three times upon the man, and from that time he will become a witch. Known by five black spots diagonally placed under the tongue.” There is also a strange glare in the eye of a person who can “overlook,” and the eyelids are always red.
Witches could in this country change themselves into toads, as well as hares. Mr. Robert Hunt relates the story of one who met her death in that form, and Mr. T. Q. Couch tells the tale of a sailor who was a “witch,” who received several injuries whilst in the shape of that animal. When a very small child, having a “kennel” (an ulcer) on my eye, I was unknown to my parents taken by an old servant to a Penzance “charmer,” who then made a great deal of money by her profession. All I can remember about it is, that she breathed on it, made some curious passes with her hands and muttered some incantation.
About twelve years ago, a woman who lived in the “west country” (Land’s End district) as well as being a “white witch was a famous knitster,” and we amongst others frequently gave her work. When she brought it back she was treated by our maids, who lived in great fear of her “ill-wishing” them, to the best our kitchen could afford; and many were the marvellous stories she told me of her power to staunch blood, etc., when doctors failed. It was not necessary for her to see the person; she could cure them sitting by her fireside if they were miles away. Witches are also consulted about the recovery of stolen property, which, by casting their spells over the thief, it is still supposed they can compel him to return.
A part of Launceston Castle is locally known as Witch’s Tower, from the tradition that one was burnt at its foot; no grass grows on the spot. Another is said to have met with the same fate on a flat stone close to St. Austell market-house.
“Charms are still in use by the simple-minded for thrush, warts, and various complaints; also for the cure of cattle, when some evil disposed person has ‘turned a figure upon (i.e. bewitched) them;’ and white witches—those who avert the evil eye—have not yet ceased out of the land.”—Notes on the Neighbourhood of Brown Willy (North Cornwall), Rev. A. H. Malan, M.A.
I will give some of their charms culled from various sources, and remedies for diseases still used in Cornwall:—Take three burning sticks from the hearth of the “overlooker,” make the patient cross over them three times and then extinguish with water. Place nine bramble-leaves in a basin of “Holy Well’s water, pass each leaf over and from the diseased part, repeating three times to each leaf. Three virgins came from the east, one brought fire, the others brought frost. Out fire! In frost! In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” Or take a stick of burning furze from the hearth, pass over and above the diseased part, repeating the above nine times. If you can succeed by any means in drawing blood from the “ill-wisher” you are certain to break and remove the spell. Stick pins into an apple or potatoe, carry it in your pocket, and as it shrivels the “ill-wisher” will feel an ache from every pin, but this I fancy does not do the person “overlooked” any good. Another authority says, “Stick pins into a bullock’s heart, when the ‘ill-wisher’ will feel a stab for every one put in, and in self-defence take off the curse.”
A friend writes, “An old man called Uncle Will Jelbart, who had been with the Duke of Kent in America, and also a very long time in the Peninsular, about forty years ago lived in West Cornwall; he had a small pension, and in addition made a good income by charming warts, wildfire (erysipelas), cataracts, etc. He used to spit three times and breathe three times on the part affected, muttering, ‘In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost I bid thee begone.’ For cataract he pricked the small white ‘dew-snail’ (slug), found about four a.m., with a hawthorn spine, and let a drop fall into the eye; and in the case of skin diseases occasionally supplemented the charm with an ointment made of the juice extracted from house-leeks and ‘raw-cream;’ he sometimes changed the words and repeated those which with slight variations are known all over Cornwall—‘Three virgins,’ etc.
“The crowfoot locally known as the ‘kenning herb’ is in some districts used in incantations for curing ‘kennings’ or ‘kennels’ (ulcers in the eye).
‘Three ladies (or virgins) come from the east: